Eastern Pacific High Sea

The waters face the Chala desert, a coastal region defined by the western lands between sea level and about 500 metres. Away from rivers it is largely bare, but moisture arriving as fog creates scattered lomas on nearby hills. These patches are not continuous forest. They emerge on the first western slopes, generally between 150 and 600 metres, where fine droplets can offset the scarcity of rain.

Rivers crossing the desert create a second and markedly different habitat. Their damp courses support carob trees, palo verde, salt-tolerant grama grass, mangroves, giant reeds and ditch reeds. This narrow riparian vegetation offers stronger cover than the surrounding slopes. The lomas shelter plants such as the amancay, or Peruvian daffodil, wild tomato, mito, or Peruvian papaya, and divi-divi. Sea lions, anchovy and numerous seabirds belong to the coastal fauna, using the edge where desert, estuary or river mouth and open Pacific meet. In the north, the character changes further, since Tumbes and Piura belong to equatorial dry forests with thorny savanna trees. The seascape therefore opens onto a dry coast whose habitability is concentrated in fog belts and watercourses.